Strap-toothed Beaked Whale
Mesoplodon layardii
- Least concern
- Card rarity: Common
- Mammals
The strap-toothed beaked whale, also known as Layard's beaked whale, is one of the largest members of the Mesoplodon genus, growing to 6.2 m (20 ft) in length and reaching up to 1,300 kg (2,900 lb). It is named for its long, curved teeth, which in adult males grow out of the lower jaw and arch over the upper jaw, restricting the jaw from opening. The common and scientific names also honor Edgar Leopold Layard, the curator of the South African Museum, who prepared drawings of a skull and sent them to the British taxonomist John Edward Gray, who described the species in 1865.
Classification
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Artiodactyla
- Family
- Ziphiidae
- Genus
- Mesoplodon